What are your expectations for God? What do you want God to do for you? Does God satisfy your every want, need and desire?
I had a priest friend who came to a new congregation. They had not had a full-time priest in a few years. They told him, “We have been waiting for you like Jesus on Palm Sunday!” My friend responded, “You know what they did to him five short days later, right?”
I have heard many people refer to Palm Sunday as the false Easter. Jesus comes in triumphantly, gloriously. Many think he is the Messiah. They shout, "Hosanna in the highest!" Many must have thought, "At last the messiah has come, our savior. He will set everything right!" I wonder how many of them shouted out, “Crucify him” just five days later?
Why the change? Did their expectations change? Or did Jesus disappoint? Was he not the great King like David they longed for? Was he not the great prophet like Moses they desperately craved? Maybe God had a different plan in mind? Perhaps God desired a different kind of kingdom? Perhaps God longed for an everlasting kingdom ruled by peace and forgiveness? Perhaps God desired a deeper relationship? Perhaps God desperately craved an eternal relationship with everyone grounded in sacrificial love? Perhaps God knew the only way to establish a kingdom like that? Perhaps God knew what was best for us? Perhaps God still knows what is best? Perhaps??
What are your expectations for God? What do you want God to do for you? Does God satisfy your every want, need, and desire? What kind of Kingdom do you want?
May you have a blessed Holy Week with the eternal questions of Palm Sunday in your heart and mind.
